held up in rear, headway 3 out, weakened approaching 2 out
in touch until weakened approaching 2 out
jumped left, led until approaching 2 out, mistake last, edged right and stayed on same pace flat
mid-division, took keen hold, headway approaching 6th, led before 2 out, driven out
mid-division, headway 3 out, chased winner last, edged left and stayed on flat
chased leaders, lost place when jumped slowly 5th, rallied next, weakened after 3 out
in touch, not fluent 4th, weakened after 3 out
held up in rear, headway 3 out,weakened approaching 2 out
slowly away, always behind, tailed off when pulled up after 3 out
chased leader until approaching 5th, weakened 3 out
held up towards rear, raced keenly, headway after 4th, went 2nd before next where jumped slowly, stayed on same pace from 2 out, mistake last
held up towards rear, pulled hard, not much room briefly after 3 out, headway approaching 2 out, soon beaten
Not much decent public form for us to go on here and at these weights we favour the Paul Nicholls-trained TOUBAB to be too strong for Horseshoe Reef, while Robbers Bridge is very interesting. The selection was last of three, though not beaten far, on his only hurdles outing so far, which came in his native France last September. He handles cut well and the champion trainer will have given him plenty of practice over British hurdles before this debut in this part of the world. He stays well and we hope that he is up to the task. Horseshoe Reef has some reasonable flat form under his belt, and probably ran to something like expectations on his introduction to hurdles at Chepstow in October. Freshened-up after a break, he can build on that today and should get involved. Robbers Bridge makes his debut over timber after making the frame in a bumper a couple of months ago. Plenty of cut in the ground suits and he can show up well with the stable in form. Hucking Hero stays 1m 6f on the level, though he has never yet won on turf, and he does have it to prove in these conditions. If handling them then he can make his presence felt. Quam Celerrine represents a yard going well and was last seen finishing last in a Wolverhampton handicap from a mark of 83, so how he will fare today is anyone's guess. He does, at least, handle cut, but we are happy to side with Toubab.
Byblos 16-1 (10-12) Held up in touch, ridden 3 out, weakened quickly approaching 2 out, 6th of 8, 42l behind Don't Panic (10-12) at Taunton 2m 1f nh nov hdl (3) sft in Nov.
Gamedor (FR) 33-1 (11-4) Took keen hold in touch, pushed along well before 2 out, weakened soon after, tailed off and eased, 8th of 12, 27l behind Bothy (10-13) at Taunton 2m 1f nh nov hdl (4) sft in Jan.
Horseshoe Reef (AUS) 16-1 (10-12) Chased leader to 3 out, weakened after next, 5th of 16, 16l behind Tito Bustillo (10-12) at Chepstow 2m nh nov hdl (4) gd in Oct.
Hucking Hero (IRE) 20-1 (8-6) Led, ridden and headed over 1f out, soon weakened, last of 5, 12l behind Moonbeam Dancer (8-1) at Kempton 2m hcp 0-85 (4) pol in Nov (flat).
Mister Stickler (IRE) 16-1 (11-4) Mid-division, outpaced 3 out, never on terms, 7th of 14, 28l behind Gifted Leader (11-4) at Southwell 2m nh nov hdl (4) gs in Jan.
Quam Celerrime 40-1 (8-11) Always in the rear, last of 9, 16l behind Transvestite (8-9) at Wolverhampton 1m 4f hcap (4) pol in Jan '09 (flat).
Robbers Bridge (IRE) 9-4fav (11-2) Held up, headway 11f out, chased winner over 3f out, no impression over 1f out, 3rd of 9, 13l behind Amroth Bay (11-2) at Chepstow 2m NH flat (6) hvy in Nov.
Jack Rio (IRE) 33-1 (8-11) Held up towards rear, headway on wide outside well over 2f out, weakening when hung left over 2f out, 8th of 11, 11l behind Ghufa (8-13) at Wolverhampton 1m 1f clm stks (6) pol in Dec (flat).
Lady Londra 100-1 (10-12) Held up, weakened when fell 5th, in a race won by Bathwick Quest (11-1) at Towcester 2m mrs nov hdl (3yo+) (4) hvy in Nov, 10 ran.
Lethal Dream 150-1 (10-5) Held up in rear, some headway 4 out, weakened under pressure after next, tailed off when pulled up before last, in a race won by Asturienne (11-2) at Taunton 2m 3f mrs nov hdl (3) sft in Dec, 14 ran.
Raquel White 8-1 (9-4) Mid-division, hampered 6f out, weakened over 2f out, 6th of 13, 12l behind General Tufto (7-10) at Southwell 1m 4f hcap (6) fbs in Feb '09 (flat).
Toubab (FR) (10-1) 3rd of 17, 3l behind Prince Oui Oui (10-5) at Enghien(FR) 2m 1f hdl sft in Sep.
